Recommended Posts

So I hear that Men's Hockey in this year's Olympics is not an international tournament of NHL players. I wonder if Olympic basketball could follow suit by no longer making it an international tournament of NBA players.

I enjoy NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics better than their coverage of the Summer Olympics because they don't have to use the Winter Olympics to promote another sport like they have done with the last two Summer Olympics when you had Cris Collinsworth as a special correspondent in London and they flew in Tony Dungy to Rio de Janeiro in the last days of the Rio Olympics.

What? David Feherty is former PGA golfer doing bits which Mary.Carrillo did, if you are old enough to recall Mary with NBC.

On 2/10/2018 at 8:20 PM, GDAWG said:

For me, the Olympics is about seeing athletes you don't see everyday, and having the Olympic Basketball Tournament be an international tournament of NBA players taints that for me a little bit. But I get why they are in the Olympics.

It is about seeing the BEST athletes and while NBC loves to put events in prime time, they correctly focus on the BEST.

23 hours ago, GDAWG said:

That's fine. My issue is that the Olympics to me is about seeing athletes you don't see everyday. I mean this weekend was the first time I heard the name "Shani Davis" since Sochi. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, most casual Olympics fans hadn't heard names like Allyson Felix, Gabby Douglas, Ryan Lochte and others since the London Olympics. Meanwhile we see The USA Men's Team play for their individual teams for 6-8 months in any given year. I have friends who are big NBA fans and who also watch the Olympics and root for Team USA, but won't watch Men's Basketball for the very reason being "We'll see most of them again around Halloween." I do understand why Men's Basketball is like this, as basketball is probably the #2 most popular team sport in the world. It also does not disrupt the NBA season. The NHL might not ever be back for future Winter Olympics and MLB won't ever participate in Olympic baseball, but (unless thing change), the Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament will always be an international tournament of NBA stars. They will also remain the most popular athletes on Team USA by a mile (especially with Michael Phelps probably retiring again).

Look at Team USA for these games, most of these people we won't see again for another four years. They are still competing in their individual sports, but those sports (except Hockey) are visible during the Olympics. Some of these hockey players we may see play in the NHL between now and the next Winter Games in Beijing, but it's not like Olympic Basketball where we are pretty much certain to see those guys again after the Olympics.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

Felix, Lochte, and Douglas were 2012 Olympians and were medalists. We've known the first two since '04.

Folks have known Shani was a selfish a$$ since 2002 when he was a short track dude and refused to be on the "relay". Shani still beefs with Under Armour and doesn't wear their skin since the 2014 suit issues in Russia.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

That's fine. My issue is that the Olympics to me is about seeing athletes you don't see everyday. I mean this weekend was the first time I heard the name "Shani Davis" since Sochi. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, most casual Olympics fans hadn't heard names like Allyson Felix, Gabby Douglas, Ryan Lochte and others since the London Olympics.

This thinking only works if you think the other sports don't exist outside the Olympics.

Those "athletes you don't see everyday" are doing it year in, year out, and the people that follow those sports know it. So actually having top pros in the Olympics in hockey or basketball is consistent with what you see in every other sport. But yeah, treat Allyson Felix, a legend in American track and highly decorated speed skater Shani Davis like novelty acts..

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Is it me, or do the Olympics always seem like a let down? Like, I get really excited for them during all the build up, but then they happen and I don't really care all that much?

Even the hockey this year. Usually I absolutely love watching it, but this year the only team I really put in an effort to watch has been the US womens' team. I don't know why.

I'm far more interested in the Women's hockey tournament than I am the men's because the women's game is best on best. James Wisniewski is on Team USA. Cody Goloubef is on Team Canada. Cody Goloubef could barely crack the super-crappy 2015-2016 Blue Jackets lineup. Wisniewski hasn't played in the NHL in like 4 years. If I wanted to see a bunch of random dudes play hockey in an international tournament I'd watch the Spengler Cup. Note: I never watch the Spengler Cup.

I've found I enjoy the Olympics a lot more when it's held in the Western Hemisphere. The tape delayed broadcasts remove something from it just knowing I'm not actually watching it live. Plus I accidentally run across spoilers on social media and then it removes any need to actually watch the event later that night. I've been watching some things in the mornings, but it's not the same. What stinks is the next 3 Olympics are in Tokyo, Beijing, and Paris so we're not going to have a stateside Olympics until 2026 at the earliest. We could all be dead by then!

0

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I watch the Olympics for the events. It frustrates me when they want to focus on Bolt VanderHuge from Podunk, Oklahoma who fell in the opening seconds, and then quickly mention the gold winner without showing anybody else or the actual competition. If I choose to watch the Olympics, yeah, it's nice to see how various Americans have done, but I'm trying to watch the actual event. And if an American wins, all the other competitors are ignored or not even mentioned, it's all about Bolt VanderHuge and his stunning win.

I know it's American TV, and I don't care about most of the American athletes, so I'm not expecting to see certain athletes, but please show the event instead of yet another human interest story.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I enjoy NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics better than their coverage of the Summer Olympics because they don't have to use the Winter Olympics to promote another sport like they have done with the last two Summer Olympics when you had Cris Collinsworth as a special correspondent in London and they flew in Tony Dungy to Rio de Janeiro in the last days of the Rio Olympics.

Well Dale Earnhardt Jr. is there for NBC in Korea, so no change there.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Do they not give guides or something similar to announcers before an event? I know they're not named Smith or Jones, but at least do the courtesy of learning how to say their name. I was watching Canada-Finland women's hockey and it drove me insane listening to their mispronunciations of the players names. It's not just that game, but other events, foreign names are not said correctly. I would think an announcer has enough professional pride to bother to learn how to say them.

Link to post

Share on other sites

So how long after these Olympics is over before they become "white elephants?"

The Olympic stadium will be torn down immediately after the games. The one thing about winter Olympics venues for the most part is they tend to remain permanently because the amount of space needed for fans is lower. Any hotels created for hosting athletes and fans will probably turn into low income housing, much better than the athletes village at Lake Placid which is now a prison. They even started putting up the barbed wire during the Olympics!

0

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Do they not give guides or something similar to announcers before an event? I know they're not named Smith or Jones, but at least do the courtesy of learning how to say their name. I was watching Canada-Finland women's hockey and it drove me insane listening to their mispronunciations of the players names. It's not just that game, but other events, foreign names are not said correctly. I would think an announcer has enough professional pride to bother to learn how to say them.

In short track speedskating the two announcers are saying the same names totally different from eachother, and neither is giving in to the pronunciation of the other.

0

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Do they not give guides or something similar to announcers before an event? I know they're not named Smith or Jones, but at least do the courtesy of learning how to say their name. I was watching Canada-Finland women's hockey and it drove me insane listening to their mispronunciations of the players names. It's not just that game, but other events, foreign names are not said correctly. I would think an announcer has enough professional pride to bother to learn how to say them.

I can understand this but with so many languages represented across all events, im sure its difficult to keep up